


Don't Say I Didn't Do Anything for You

by drswriting



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action, Violence, canon divergent fic, torture scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-18
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-20 15:02:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/888635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drswriting/pseuds/drswriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a commission for a friend:</p><p>When Gabriel meets Lucifer at that hotel, he knows what's going to happen. What Lucifer and the Winchester mooks don't know is that Gabe has a plan of survival. Except, things go awry when a pack of demons comes to see what the fuss is about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Say I Didn't Do Anything for You

It would always come down to this. Gabriel knew his fate. Lucifer would win, in whatever manner necessary, and the end of days would still come. The Apocalypse, the final battle, Michael and Lucifer dancing the dance. Gabriel knew. 

He especially knew when he arrived at the Elysium Hotel that he was not meant to leave. Gabriel had taken every precaution, handing Sam and Dean that DVD, making sure Kali and them got out safe. But if Lucifer wanted Gabriel dead, Gabriel was still going to end up dead. As the boys (yes, still boys, especially to someone as eternal as the archangel Gabriel) skirted around behind him, Gabriel took his eyes off of his brother for just a second. Just long enough to turn and meet the eyes of the boy he’d be giving his life to save. 

Love didn’t come easy to Gabriel. Hell, he still wanted his family to be able to sit down and have at it – to really rip into each other. Change did not come easy to a being who watched all of humanity from the first spark of life. Sam Winchester was different, though. At least, that’s what Gabriel told himself. And it was true. Sam Winchester had been picked and even bred by Dad long ago. Sam’s line – and Dean’s for that matter – was special, was destined from the start to be a vessel. At 6 months old, his essence was tainted, was mixed with a much darker fate. Despite his dark beginnings, and his certain dark fate, Sam Winchester burned bright. His soul burned that bright – through everything. 

All of this went through Gabriel’s mind in the space of an instant, the instant his golden eyes locked onto Sam’s hazel. Gabriel read worry, confusion, and a few other things he couldn’t immediately place. And then the moment was over, the boy was gone, and Lucifer was demanding his attention.

 

“Don’t make me do this, brother.”

“Nobody makes us do anything.” The words were sad, painful on his tongue. His brother, who he had loved and held special. His brother, who had rebelled and fallen from Heaven. Gabriel felt the pinprick of the angel blade long before it touched him.

“I know where your heart truly lies,” Lucifer said softly. It had been foolish to think the bait and switch would work. But then, there were other precautions… Pain could be processed. He could heal. But the angel blade sought out something much more precious and fragile than the human heart of his vessel. It pierced his grace. “Don’t forget, you learned all your tricks from me… Little brother…”

Gabriel had never wished for death. He’d never wanted to end his own existence, and he’d never understood the desire to do so. Until now. Until it felt like he was being simultaneously being burned alive and frozen solid. He screamed and screamed, voice breaking. The grace poured through the hole the angel blade had made, consuming him with white hot fire. But although he could scream, the power of his grace leaving him had Gabriel practically immobile – and not just because of the pain. It was his very life source, his essence, and it had been popped like a balloon. 

It took a long time for Gabriel to be able to process anything but the pain and the emptiness. When finally consciousness returned to him, he wished that it hadn’t. If this was what being human felt like, he didn’t want any part of it. Although, he reminded himself, he wasn’t all human. Had his grace been completely gone, he’d be… well. That was a topic up for debate. 

What mattered right now was that Gabriel was weak – weaker than he’d ever been in his entire existence – and that he was cold, alone, and still bleeding on the floor of the Elysium Hotel. Something as big as his grace (or most of it) leaving was going to draw in others… and not of the friendly kind. His eyes fluttered open, and he rolled over onto all fours. The sudden change of position was a bad idea. After a few minutes spent clutching the tile floor slick with his own blood, Gabriel decided he didn’t like being human, thank you very much. But this weak and alone, he had very few options. The amount of grace he had retained would heal him – incredibly slowly, in fact, just fast enough to be unusual for a human – but he had to escape the blast zone. And fast.

Color drained from his face, shirt stuck to his torso with sweat and blood, Gabriel leaned against the front door. Of course, the Impala was long gone. And the two boys and his friend Kali with it. There wasn’t much use in concentrating too hard on their location. The faint heat he could sense from that DVD pulsed in the back of his mind, and it was enough of a start. Of course, it figures that the swirling black would come then.

“Always such dramatics with you guys,” he said watching the demons form in the empty lot. Maybe he could fight his way out of this one. He changed his stance ever so slightly, wincing as he pulled the angel blade from the tiny amount of grace within him. 

“Look what we’ve found, boys. The weakest archangel in the garrison,” the big stupid leader said, speaking slowly. Two women and another large man had appeared with him, all with eyes black as pitch, smirks across their faces. “I’m surprised we made it to you before someone else. Or before you bled out on the ground like the rat you are.” he sneered.

“Oh please. Spare me the long-winded speech.” Gabriel said, eyes hard and dangerous. He twirled his angel blade, already feeling dread at how much slower his own actions were. Well, he certainly wasn’t going without a fight.

*** 

“Sam. Dean. If you’re watching this, I’m dead.”

Sam wouldn’t dare admit it to anyone, especially not Dean, and not even Gabriel if – well, not even him. But this was the 3rd time he’d watched the fake Casa Erotica DVD. It really was sad, and he’d be willing to take whatever crap Dean would give him for watching it…except that for some reason, it meant more. It wasn’t just something he could laugh off, something he could agree and go along with Dean’s teasing. Gabriel had meant this for Sam – for him to keep and to watch, he knew it. He just had to figure out why…

***

Time had blended into pain or blissful unconsciousness. There was no kind of spatial awareness for Gabriel, because the demons had him blindfolded and tied down in the foliage of the woods behind the hotel. Metal cuffs with sigils around his ankles and wrists, ratty old bandana tied around his eyes. During the time the demons weren’t playing pin the tail on the archangel, there was a wad of something nasty shoved deep into his mouth and sealed with duct tape. The sticky residue and stinging from all the times it’d been ripped off and reapplied would have bothered Gabriel if he wasn’t so damn exhausted. 

He wasn’t sure what exactly it felt like when humans went into shock, but he imagined it was something like this. Physically, anyway. He was cold – trembling almost constantly – even though it was still October, and the nights hadn’t dropped below freezing yet. Spending enough time chained and unsheltered outside was bound to make anyone feel a little shock-y. When Gabriel was next allowed to see daylight, and his gag was taken out, he chuckled tiredly.

“I know you’re having a lot of fun here, but I gotta say, guys. Not my idea of a good time.” The female sneered right back at him.

“Oh, that’s a shame. I feel all disappointed now,” she said. “I wouldn’t want our little grace machine to be unhappy.” Gabriel tensed, knowing what came next, but was unable to prepare himself. The male pulled out the overlarge syringe and jabbed it into Gabriel’s chest. He let out a small sound of discomfort, knowing the worst part was coming. As the demon pulled back on the plunger, drawing the shimmering white blue grace out of him, Gabriel could not stop himself from screaming. It was like being stabbed with his own angel blade all over again. But more slowly and more painfully. Every muscle in his body tensed as he screamed himself hoarse. The demon pulled the syringe out with a little tug, and Gabriel collapsed in on himself. The pair of demons above him swam in his vision. 

“Sweet dreams, little bird.” 

***

“Look man, all I’m saying is, something doesn’t feel right about this.” Sam was pestering Dean about the DVD again. In fact, they still hadn’t left from the motel they ran to with Kali. Sam didn’t want to leave the area. He tried to tell himself it was his hunter’s gut instinct, and not some emotion that he tried not to examine too closely. 

“Sam, we’re wastin’ daylight sitting here. You know everything we still have to do to be able to stop this – stop this apocalypse.” Dean shot him a tired and frustrated glance. “I know you’re shook up about Gabriel – and to tell you the truth, I am too. Didn’t know the bastard had it in him. But we’ve lost people a lot closer.”

Sam turned to glare at Dean. “Yeah, great. Thanks, because I wouldn’t have remembered them. Dean, I’m not saying Gabriel is more or less than anyone we’ve lost, I’m saying that I don’t think he’s really gone. I know he wanted to help, and stand up to Lucifer but – Giving us this DVD, it seems like there’s more to it. Didn’t he say to guard it with our lives?” He sighed and shook his head. “At least come with me back to the hotel to make sure nothing weird went down.”

Dean stared at him evenly, brow furrowed. Sam stared back, feeling like he was 5 years old again, begging Dean and Dad to let him bring home the stray dog he found. Dean gave an exasperated sigh and threw his hands up. “How can you still be making the puppy dog face at me? What are you, five? Alright, alright, we’ll go check it out. But I swear, Sam - ” Dean turned serious for a moment. “If this is a trap, I’m gonna be pretty damn pissed.”

***

Walking back into the hotel felt eerie. It felt like walking into the room of someone who had died. Which, technically, was the case. Sam felt the strange discomfort even more strongly being back in the hotel. Both he and Dean walked in silently, guns drawn – just in case. But the hotel was just as silent as them. Just as dead as Gabriel had said he was. 

When they entered the conference room where all of the gods had been and where Gabriel had taken his stand, Sam gasped. Aside from the few scattered bodies of the dead gods, there was a significant amount of blood on the floor along with a huge shadow of wings. “Smoked him,” Dean said softly, bending down to touch the ash on the wood floor. 

“But Dean, hasn’t – don’t the angels, their vessels, don’t they die too?” Sam asked, searching around the room for another body. “There’s… Not a body here. Not Gabriel’s.” 

The bizarre amalgamation of feelings he experienced with that thought made him dizzy. Giddy that Gabriel really might be alive, horror that Gabriel could be anywhere and badly injured judging from the blood, and of course confused about his happiness at the possibility of the archangel being alive.

***

Gabriel stirred from his restless sleep, groaning at the ache in his chest and the rest of his muscles. He felt downright awful – cold, empty, unsteady. As close to human as he had ever been. It wasn’t a good feeling. But all of his discomfort hadn’t woken him. A sound from the surrounding woods. Although he couldn’t see, he knew that the demons never bothered with walking to him. They usually just appeared. No, whoever or whatever it was made a fair amount of noise. From the sound of it, could be a moose tromping through the underbrush. A moose…? He must have been delirious. He faded out for a little, and came around at the sound of his name.

“Gabriel? Oh my god…” Sam and Dean had finally stumbled into the right part of the woods. The demons they’d found – and tortured – had only been so helpful as to point them towards the forest. After the boys found their hideout, and had disposed of them accordingly, they found the blueprints for Enochian shackles, minted with holy oil. Dean came into the opening in the trees just after Sam, face distorted in disgust. “Jesus…”

Sam knelt by Gabriel’s head, and gently pulled off the blindfold. Gabriel blinked into the light of the setting sun, and stared up at Sam, thankful the demons had at least left his pants on. “Alright, this is, uh, not going to feel good,” Sam warned before he peeled back the duct tape. Dean consulted the blueprints and the subsequent keys they’d found as he worked at the shackles around Gabriel’s ankles. The archangel spat out the crumpled up cloth that had been in his mouth and Sam threw it aside. 

“Hey kiddo,” he said weakly with a smile. Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to you sooner. You might have mentioned something about being alive in your – uh, DVD.” Sam blushed at referencing it, trying very hard to concentrate on the Gabriel in front of him rather than the one from the DVD.

“Well, well. Someone’s been doing some watching,” Gabriel said with a tell-tale waggle of his eyebrows. “Sorry about that, Sam. But I wasn’t sure if you two mutton heads would be keeping your hands on that DVD.” 

“No – I – Well, I did - ” Sam was spared having to finish that thought when Dean successfully undid the shackles around Gabriel’s ankles. 

“Figured out which key works – here - ” Dean tossed him the iron key as he kicked the chains away. Sam caught it and got to work. Thankfully, the shackles hadn’t been done too tight – they didn’t need to be. Sam tried gripping Gabriel’s arm below the wrist as he fiddled with the lock, but it was an awkward angle. He cleared his throat and instead held Gabriel’s hand, intertwining their fingers. The archangel’s hands were cold – Sam had expected them to be warm. Gabriel was very quiet. Sam managed to get both locks undone relatively fast after that.

Even though Gabriel had been unchained, he didn’t move from where he lay. “Guys, I might need a bit of help. They were… draining my grace.” He looked away as he explained, not wanting to see either of the boys’ expressions. Sam and Dean gave each other partially shocked glances. 

“I didn’t even know that was possible,” Dean said, expression showing nothing but shocked sadness. 

“Yeah, something about being already wounded, and having a hole in my grace already or something.” Sam stood silently fuming.

“What the hell would demons need with grace?” he asked the other two. No one answered for a minute.

“Nothing good,” Dean replied, looking uncomfortable. “They didn’t have it at their hideout – because we searched that place top to bottom.”

“Well, I guess it’s just another thing to add to the list. To deal with later,” he added as an after thought. “Right now we should get out of here. Before someone comes to check up on them. Or you,” he said, turning to glance down at Gabriel. The archangel was visibly shaking, and his bare chest was covered in puncture marks. Sam offered a hand, but Gabriel shook his head.

“Not sure if I said it right before but – I’m not going anywhere on my own two feet until I start to get my grace back.” he said flatly. Sam looked over to Dean, who put up his hands and backed away.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not carrying his sorry ass. No offense.” Dean said with a small sarcastic smile in Gabriel’s direction. Sam sighed. He took off his jacket and squatted back down to help Gabriel sit up. Gabriel cringed, and flopped over against Sam, like a rag doll. Sam wrapped his coat around the archangel, shoving his arms through the sleeves. He couldn’t help but giggle at the sight.

“What? Never seen an archangel in a coat before?” Gabriel asked.

“Not one so small,” Sam said, gesturing to the overlong sleeves that covered Gabriel’s hands. 

“Yeah, yeah yuck it up.”

Sam chuckled once more and shook his head. He turned and positioned his back to face Gabriel, and pulled the exhausted archangel’s arms up over his shoulders. As Sam stood, he dragged Gabriel up onto his back, cupping his hands under his thighs. Gabriel instinctively leaned into Sam’s back, nuzzling at the base of his neck. Sam shuddered as he felt goose bumps rising along his arms and neck. Gabriel leaned forward just a bit to whisper in Sam’s ear.

“Don’t get too excited just yet. Remember, I’m in shock and freezing. I’ll have to share the bed.” Sam’s breath stuttered, and he stumbled on a fallen branch. Dean turned around to give him a funny look, and then rolled his eyes. Gabriel nuzzled down into the jacket, and pressed himself flush against Sam’s back. He made a low, contented sound in the back of his throat. When they reached the Impala, Dean opened the back door.

“Alright, ride’s over,” Sam said. When he received no response, he twisted around to look at Gabriel. “Looks like we’ve got an asleep archangel,” Sam mused with a warm smile.


End file.
